The bodies of two North Korean sailors and three survivors have been found off the coast of South Korea after their cargo ship sank. South Korean rescuers are searching for 11 others still missing.

The Mongolian-flagged ship was carrying 16 North Korean crew members when it sent a distress signal in international waters about 80 miles (130km) south of the southern port city of Yeosu, South Korea's coastguard said in a statement.

Three people were rescued and told investigators they escaped from the ship as it was tilting with its freight being pushed to one side.

South Korean coastguard officers said high waves and strong winds were reported in the area where the 4,300-ton ship sank. It was carrying iron ore to China from the North Korean port city of Chongjin.

The South Korean coastguard said it had mobilised 13 vessels and six aircraft to search for the missing crew. Bad weather was still hampering rescue operations, according to the coastguard officers.

It was not immediately known how South Korea would handle the rescued North Korean sailors. Seoul usually repatriates North Korean sailors found drifting in South Korean waters if they want to return home.

All three rescued sailors were taken to a hospital on the southern South Korean island of Jeju and none of them was in a life-threatening condition, the coastguard statement said.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war as the 1950-53 Korean war ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. On Monday, the rival Koreas fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other's waters.